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By Chinwendu Obienyi
Despite positive outlooks cited by market operators for the improved performance of quoted securities in the second half (H2) of 2022, sell-offs are still expected to dominate activities on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited this week.
Daily Sun analysis of the stock market’s performance last week revealed the All-Share Index (ASI) dipped 0.53 percent week-on-week (w/w) to close at 51,557.41 points as price of securities depreciated significantly. Furthermore, market capitalisation fell to N27.803 trillion from an opening value of N27.935 trillion leaving N132 billion losses on investors.
Consequently, the market’s month-to-date (MTD) and year-to-date (YTD) return settled at -0.5 per cent and +20.7 per cent.
Also, sectoral performance was largely bearish, following losses in the Insurance (-2.7 per cent), Banking (-0.5 per cent), Consumer Goods (-0.5 per cent), Oil and Gas (-0.1 per cent) indices while the Industrial Goods Index closed flat.
Similarly, the market capitalisation of the Tier-1 banks – Access Bank, FBNH, GT Holding company Plc (GTCO), United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank depreciated 1.05 percent to close at N2.26 trillion, as investors in those banks lost a total of N23.97 billion in the trading week.
After five trading days of the week, 2 out of the listed banks suffered negative market sentiments.
For instance, FBNH’s share price declined by 8.62 per cent to close the week at N10.60 with its market capitalization at N380.49 billion at the end of the week. Amid sell-offs and buy-interests, at the end of the trading week, its share price stood at N10.60.
On the other hand, GTCO Plc depreciated by N1.47 billion after its market capitalisation declined to N600.40 billion from N601.87 billion at the end of the week’s trading session.
A secoral analysis showed that trading volume and value fell by 39 percent and 57 percent respectively as total turnover of 822.404 million shares worth N10.366 billion in 20,643 deals was traded, in contrast to a total of 1.348 billion shares valued at N24.487 billion sold in the prior week in 22,155 deals.
Reacting to the performance of the market, Head, Research and Strategy at Cordros Capital, Jolomi Odonghanro, noted that the possibility of continuous profit-taking will not be ruled out as the Nigerian bourse exhibits a choppy pattern.
Odonghanro added that the performance of the market in H2 2022 will largely be dependent on the intertwining impact of yield elevation in the fixed income market and increasing uncertainties as the country prepares for an election year. “Given that domestic investors are the major players in the equities market, we do not think the uncertainties which typically characterise pre-election years and trigger apathy for stocks will lead to a significant downturn in the market in H2 2022”, he said.
